SANTA CRUZ — A madrone tree tucked away in the parking lot of the Cruzio Internet and Ecology Action building on Cedar Street in Santa Cruz was spared Tuesday after residents in the neighboring Walnut Commons building protested the tree’s scheduled removal that day — with one resident climbing and occupying the tree.
“I always considered myself an activist,” said Walnut Commons resident Brett Garrett who scaled the tree Tuesday morning. “And I like trees in general, but I didn’t consider myself to be a tree activist until the last week.”
The madrone tree takes up airspace near the property of Walnut Commons, 190 Walnut Ave., a cohousing building that is about as old as the tree, and is adored by the residents there.
The tree had been slated for removal Tuesday by the local nonprofit Ecology Action to make way for a new electric bike storage shed, which was to be installed in the back corner of the parking lot of the former Sentinel building at 877 Cedar St., where the madrone currently grows and Ecology Action employees park.
According to Heather Henricks with Ecology Action, the placement of a storage shed was in the works for the past year, andthe tree’s welfare was considered, but its existence was seen by the nonprofit’s leadership as a possible nuisance to the neighbors.
“We gave considerable thought to the site and whether to remove the tree,” said Henricks to the Sentinel. “Until the past week, we were under the impression from Walnut Commons residents that they would welcome the tree’s removal due to complaints about its droppings on their patios and the possibility of thieves using it to climb over the divider between our properties.”
About a week ago, while standing outside on the building’s patio, residents of Walnut Commons overheard the former Sentinel building’s property manager talking about the tree’s removal and the news spread quickly to other residents such as Garrett, who has lived in the building since it was built nearly 10 years ago.
“The word spread like wildfire through the building and everyone felt really alarmed about possibly losing this tree,” said Garrett. “It’s right next to our patio and it feels like part of our environment even though it is on their property.”
The neighbors put together a petition in the preceding days opposing the madrone’s removal and nearly every resident of the building signed it with 23 signatures in total. Garrett said he and his neighbors thought the tree’s removal was being facilitated by Cruzio Internet and were surprised to discover that it was Ecology Action. After creating the petition, the residents reached out to the environmentally focused nonprofit.
The Marina Madrone seen through the fence at Walnut Commons. (Shmuel Thaler - Santa Cruz Sentinel)
Brett Garrett sent an email Tuesday morning saying, "I am in the tree now, inspired by Julia Butterfly Hill!" (Shmuel Thaler - Santa Cruz Sentinel)
of
Expand
“In the face of today’s mounting climate crisis, we need passionate environmentalists more than ever,” said Henricks. “We were deeply touched to learn that our neighbors felt a strong connection to the strawberry madrone tree and were moved to request we adjust the plan.”
The nonprofit was still planning to remove the tree as of Monday afternoon and held a ceremony led by Kirsten Liske of Ecology Action to honor the tree. According to Henricks , “Three Ecology Action staff members and two Walnut Commons residents gathered around the tree to offer reflections and thanks. A crow also stopped by to pay respects during the half-hour ceremony.”
Garrett, who said his activism is usually centered around environmental issues such as clean energy and transportation, decided that he had to take even more extreme action to save the madrone. Around 7 a.m. Tuesday morning, to stop the tree’s removal, Garrett ascended the tree — inspired in part by Julia Butterfly Hill, who camped out in a 1,000-year-old redwood tree in the late 1990s.
“I don’t know how many weeks she spent up in that tree,” said Garrett. “I was prepared to spend a few hours.”
Garret said that climbing the tree was an empowering experience and as he perched there Tuesday morning he felt peaceful. After about two hours, Ecology Action Chief Operating Officer Chuck Tremper approached Garrett, still in the tree, and gave him some good news.
“He drove into the parking lot and noticed me in the tree and came over and said that you might want to know the tree is not coming down,” said Garrett. “I was very relieved.”
Garrett mentioned that being an activist doesn’t always mean that one’s actions result in an intended outcome and that he was excited that the efforts of him and his neighbors saved the tree.
“The usual experience as an activist is that you work on things and bang on walls and nothing ever changes,” said Garrett. “This felt really gratifying to work on this for just a few days with a good cohort of other people and actually save the tree. It shows me that activism is really worthwhile and you can really make a difference.”
After Garrett safely descended the madrone and returned home Tuesday, Tremper sent a message to Walnut Commons residents.
“All of us at Ecology Action have been touched by how many people in our neighborhood have come to love and value the tree — and be moved to protect it. And we want to protect it,” wrote Tremper. “After some late-night brainstorming and penciling, we have found a way to do just that. Although we’ll need to further reduce our parking and make some other adjustments that will add to our team’s workload, we are proposing to move our bike storage building further away from the South lot line so the tree can remain.”
